‘Paranormal Activity 4’ Shown In Place Of ‘Madagascar 3,’ British Children Freak Out

A theater full of British children were in for a surprise when Paranormal Activity 4 was shown in place of Madagascar 3. According to Cinema Blend, parents and children alike were absolutely horrified to discover than the recently-released horror film was being screened in the theater that was supposed to show a family-friendly animated feature.

The fourth installment of the series opens with a flashback from the first film, which finds Katie tossing her husband with supernatural force towards the camera. It’s a pretty unnerving sequence, even for most adults. Not surprisingly, a theater full of children found the footage to be beyond terrifying.

“They started playing the movie and I thought — this doesn’t look right. And then I recognized the opening sequence as a flash back to the first movie, which I saw a couple of years ago,” Natasha Lewis explained to Yahoo! UK. “Everybody just scrambled for the exits, all you could hear were children crying and screaming. Everyone was very upset. I’ve watched a few horror films in my time but the ‘Paranormal Activity’ films are the scariest since ‘The Exorcist.’ ”

Parents were understandably upset by the snafu, prompting the theater to issue a statement on the matter. Needless to say, employees will probably spend a bit more time making sure that the correct film is being shown going forward.

“We have investigated the incident and can confirm that this was a technical error with the projector and apologize sincerely to the families,” a spokesperson from Cineworld explained. “All customers who were affected by the incident were offered refunds and complimentary tickets. We also invited customers to watch the screening of ‘Madagascar 3’ half an hour later. We take matters such as this very seriously and are currently working with technicians to ensure this does not happen again.”

How would you react if your children saw Paranormal Activity 4 when they were supposed to be watching Madagascar 3?